Pupil Premium

You may have already have heard a lot about Pupil Premium and may be interested to know what we are spending it on from September 2017. The pupil premium is additional funding for publicly funded schools in England to raise the attainment of pupils whose parents currently claim Free School Meals and those families that have claimed in the last 6 years or pupils who are subject to care arrangements. It is provided for pupils of all abilities and is designed to close the gaps between themselves and their peers. The Pupil Premium is given to us in April of every year. We have been allocated £112, 866 which we plan to share over 3 terms.

Main Barriers to Learning for our schools
We are aware that the barriers to learning may vary from child to child and from day to day. However, these are the main barriers to learning that have been identified through conversations with parents, professional dialogues with social services, academic assessments by staff and assessments completed by outside agencies and are presented in no particular order:

Identified Special Educational Need or Disability

High levels of anxiety

Low levels of language and communication at entry point

Low self-esteem

Lack of emotional literacy

Lack of emotional stability within the home

Persistent lateness or absenteeism

Some high attainers make less than expected progress across KS2

Transition into school mid-way through a Key Stage

Some parents struggle to support with uniform, equipment, reading and homework

We aware that some children who receive pupil premium may face none of these barriers during their time with us.

Desired outcomes
The impact of our school’s work should be an improved level of attainment for disadvantaged pupils and gaps in attainment being closed. However, we are also looking for improved attendance, family support and engagement, developing the skills of the staff and the children, extending opportunities for all children to take part in shared experiences, lowering levels of anxiety, increased self-awareness of emotions and the improved self-esteem of children.

Success criteria

Lesson observations and work scrutiny will indicate good progress, high expectations and an awareness of the learning needs of individual children

Teacher assessments will indicate the difference between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils will have diminished

Statutory assessments will indicate that the difference between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils will have diminished

More disadvantaged pupils will be accessing higher ability work and achieving greater depth

Pupil Progress Meetings will support the levels of attainment achieved within classes

Our own in-school pupil surveys will indicate that children feel happy, safe and well-supported

Parent feedback (through the Parent Survey at the end of the year and Parents’ Evenings) will indicate that parents feel happy with the school, they feel their children are safe and well-supported within school

Attendance and punctuality will have improved in key areas

At Norwood Primary we use the grant in a number of ways, whilst ensuring it is carefully targeted for those eligible children. The vast majority (77%) is spent on paying specialist teachers and TAs to support small groups and individuals – this is in addition to the support provided by TAs in class.

The DFE state that schools can choose how to spend the Pupil Premium money as they are best placed to identify what would be most beneficial and cost effective to meet the widely differing needs of all eligible pupils. For example spending a lump sum on high quality staff training or specialist advice is often more effective than purchasing a single resource or service for an individual pupil.

Whilst we are constantly improving the way we spend the grant we also listen to parents and carers views. If you would like more details of how we spend the Pupil Premium or to discuss any different support which you feel could benefit your child please don’t hesitate to contact Mrs Bennet.

Some of the ways we have been able to help families in the past include:

Agreed periods of payment for breakfast club or after school club; particularly when there is a time of difficulty at home e.g. parental illness.

Financial support towards the school’s residential holidays – such as Y4 Robinwood and Y6 Conwy.

Financial support towards some extra–curricular activities held in school (football, judo etc.)